Betio Game Fishing Club

The March Competition, sponsored by Kiribati Horizons “Oubwa Islet Resort”, has been and gone with INDY making a comeback to the Winners Circle with a good haul including two board records.

The weather was fair at the start of the day and 0530 saw the INDY and TAIKIRI both at Betio boat ramp ready to go. Unfortunately King and Tom were unable to get their boat going and did not get out fishing, leaving just XXXX, KIWICOM and INDY in the hunt. As the sun rose the weather came good with a small chop and North Easterly winds. KIWICOM headed south and INDY and XXXX headed North looking for that early wahoo. XXXX managed to get two wahoo with the largest weighing in at 16lb. Over the day they caught a Giant Trevally and the first Rainbow Runner of the season.

INDY hit a decent Barracuda around 0830 and then were looking down the barrel of another disappointing day until just after midday when Steve Littles rod bent almost in half. A good fight later ended up with a 41.5lb Dogtooth tuna on deck and a slightly hysterical crew dancing around in joy. To add to the species count Steve landed the first Mahi Mahi of the year a couple of hours later, giving hope to the crew of winning their first comp for a while.At the weigh in it looked good for XXXX and INDY, when KIWICOM came in looking crestfallen. All the NZ Coppers talk of the night before had come to nought and Captain Kalolo’s last hurrah had netted a sum total of ZERO fish. Much grist for the trans Tasman rivalry! As it turned out INDY’s two board records outscored XXXX’s wahoo and board record Rainbow Runner giving INDY the win.

A happy Steve Little (pictured left) received the prize money from Emil Schutz’ daughter and immediately donated it to the local School for the Disabled.

Next up was the meat raffle. First out of the box was Joanne Craigie who decided to take the mystery box prize. This month a bottle of Famous Grouse. (Who knows what it might be next month). This left the meat tray, which was taken out for the second month running by a delighted Derek Andrewartha.

At the end of the day a it was a good turnout for the weigh in and it’s good to see so many non members turning up to support the club.

We’re now looking forward to the April Competition to see if XXXX can come back or whether INDY can do without the skills of Steve Little. Will KIWICOM still be there? Looking forward to seeing you all on the 3^rd April. It’s the Easter Weekend so no excuses.

Good Luck and Good Fishing

Chris